218 
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 
seems very probable that most of the fish taken here are of local origin. Pinks and chums 
are taken in commercial quantities and the record is unbroken from 1917 to 1927, 
except for 1921. The catch of pinks in the early and late years was relatively good, 
but from 1922 to 1925, inclusive, four poor catches were recorded, exclusive of 1921, 
a year in which no fishing w.as carried on. The catch in 1926 was one of the best on 
record and that of 1927 was good for an odd year, but it remains to be seen whether 
this is an indication of recovery from the unproductive period just preceding. This 
fishery has probably been conducted solely by means of purse seines as there is no 
evidence that traps were ever used. The catch of chums has been very irregular and 
has apparently declined, although the exceptional catch of 1925 may indicate that the 
fluctuations are economic rather than biological. The catches of cohos, kings, and 
reds were inconsequential and merit no discussion. 
UNAKWIK INLET DISTRICT 
This district extends from Kiniklik on the west to Granite Point on the east and 
the Naked Islands on the south. It includes five distinct localities, among them being 
Miners River, one of the best-known red-salmon streams of the sound. Aside from 
that fishery, exploitation of the district has developed in comparatively recent years. 
Cedar Bay . — Cedar Bay is an arm of Wells Bay and is noted chiefly as a producer 
of pink salmon. Other species have been reported from the bay but not in sufficient 
numbers to constitute a fishery. Data are available for eight years from 1917 to 
1927, omitting 1921, 1923, and 1925, and show wide fluctuations in catch from a high 
level of 145,530 in 1918 to a low level of 2,859 in 1927. The catches in 1920 and 1922 
were far below that of 1918 but in more recent years have increased though they have 
never reached the level of 1918. Statistics for the odd years, covering only 1917, 
1919, and 1927 give evidence of over-fishing and indicate a possibility of serious 
depletion. It appears probable that the run of the odd years is practically extinct, 
as a catch of only 2,859 fish after three cycles of unmolested escapement can not be 
regarded as an indication of an increasing supply. 
Granite Point . — A trap was operated at this point in 1926 and 1927 and made 
good catches of pinks in both years. A few thousand chums and reds and a few 
hundred cohos were also taken. No information is available to show in which 
direction the salmon were moving when captured, so no conclusion can be reached as 
to whether they came from runs to Unakwik Inlet and Wells Bay or to more eastern 
localities. Analysis of such limited data is impracticable. 
Miners River . — This river was regarded by Moser as capable of producing at 
least 10,000 red salmon annually. It was one of the first streams to be fished, yet 
the record of these early catches is lost in combination with those from other localities 
as none was credited directly to the river until 1904. It also appears that the locality 
was not fished in 1905, 1907, 1908, and 1920, and that it was abandoned after 1923. 
Except for three small catches of pinks at intervals of four and six years, a few kings 
in 1904, and 1 chum in 1923, Miners River has produced red salmon only. The catch 
has always been small, exceeding 9,000 just three times, and falling off gradually to 
1,165 in 1923. Since 1911, the trend has declined regularly to 1921 when it reached 
the lowest point in 20 years. In 1925, Unakwik Inlet north of Jonah Bay was closed 
by departmental regulation to commercial salmon fishing thus ending all operations 
at Miners River. To what extent the catches of red salmon in Unakwik Inlet after 
1917 were Miners River fish is not known, but in all probability some of them were 
bound to that stream, though captured in the lower part of the inlet. Figure 6 shows 
